Maruti Service is cheap - A myth!

This is a discussion on Maruti Service is cheap - A myth! within Indian Car Dealerships, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; I recently got my Swift petrol serviced for 30K Kms service.
The bill came to about INR 6000/-
This included ...

Can you post the bill breakup and things that make you unhappy with the service at Maruti and inculcating a feeling that Maruti is getting costlier day by day!

I never said I am unhappy with service at Maruti. I absolutely feel at peace whenever my car goes for service. This is one of the reasons, I am not comfortable with moving away from brand Maruti and Honda because of the relationship my father and I have built with them over time.

However, I do feel the costs have come up. Initially the paid service for swift used to cost 1200 vs 1600 now.

Also Maruti seems to charge labor costs for every small thing separately, which contributes significantly to the final cost.

I shall post the bill soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

The brake pads lasing around 35K kms is normal. Why are you unhappy about it? Do you have a better experience with
another brand or car?

We have a Honda City which had its first set of brake pads replaced at 70 K Kms, and both the cars have run under similar conditions.

I also feel another reason for the brake pads to be worn out sooner compared to ZXI/ ZDI swifts is the brake in lower variants.
The swift as we all know, came with mediocre brakes in the lower variants, and hence brake pads might have faced more wear and tear.

We have a Honda City which had its first set of brake pads replaced at 70 K Kms, and both the cars have run under similar conditions.

Your first mistake, if you ask me, is that you have compared a Maruti and a Honda component. I don't know what others think but I personally deem the Honda as a better product/component maker hamds down, any way you look at it. It surprises me to see how people are oblivious of the fact about what a legend of a company Honda is. About the legacy.Well, it's not for nothing. There's a reason for it. No offence to Maruti fan boys. It's a matter of choice.

It surprises me to see how people are oblivious of the fact about what a legend of a company Honda is. About the legacy.Well, it's not for nothing. There's a reason for it. No offence to Maruti fan boys. It's a matter of choice.

Honda is good and no doubt about it but they themselves are not confident about their quality. That is why many of their cars have 6 months service cycle while others have 12 months.

Honda is good and no doubt about it but they themselves are not confident about their quality. That is why many of their cars have 6 months service cycle while others have 12 months.

This is a myth. A service interval, the most critical part of which is oil change/top-up is more to do with the grade/viscosity of oil that the manufacture has chosen for the said engine. Each type of oil has different drain periods. That has nothing to do with the quality of the product or engine.

Keeping that in mind, if you still choose to suspect the quality of Honda engines, then I have no more words for you. Because I would be speechless. Period.

...However, I do feel the costs have come up. Initially the paid service for swift used to cost 1200 vs 1600 now....

Just to get my perspective right, have you been paying the same labour costs for Honda from the time you have had the car? Am sure the rates do go up with inflation / time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZMG

...We have a Honda City which had its first set of brake pads replaced at 70 K Kms, and both the cars have run under similar conditions...

My first thought was the same as below; The previous Honda products quality was phenomenal and was NEVER budget stuff. Could you tell us what was the cost of brake pads for the Honda? I'd expect that to be much higher than the Maruti, but will wait for your quote.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixantz

Your first mistake, if you ask me, is that you have compared a Maruti and a Honda component. I don't know what others think but I personally deem the Honda as a better product/component maker hamds down, any way you look at it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

Honda is good and no doubt about it but they themselves are not confident about their quality. That is why many of their cars have 6 months service cycle while others have 12 months.

You got to be kidding with this statement. Please be aware that Toyota also has a 6 month /5K kms service interval while Euro brands have a 1 year / 15K kms interval. And am sure you know which ones are more reliable and how far!

But I don't have the same regards for Honda after seeing the new age products though I believe these still are mechanically good.

.
You got to be kidding with this statement. Please be aware that Toyota also has a 6 month /5K kms service interval while Euro brands have a 1 year / 15K kms interval. And am sure you know which ones are more reliable and how far!

I don't think Toyota is significantly more reliable than a Maruti. And I am not kidding as I know this by owing a 2008 Swift and a 2008 Honda City.
Also, why can't Toyota and Honda have 12 months service interval if they are so confident of their quality?

Just to get my perspective right, have you been paying the same labour costs for Honda from the time you have had the car? Am sure the rates do go up with inflation / time.

My first thought was the same as below; The previous Honda products quality was phenomenal and was NEVER budget stuff. Could you tell us what was the cost of brake pads for the Honda? I'd expect that to be much higher than the Maruti, but will wait for your quote

Hi
Yes the costs have gone up for the City from time to time, but Maruti costs look to have gone up much faster over the last few years, also assuming they do a lot more business compared to Honda. It's my assumption, don't have numbers to argue over it though.

I believe Honda brake pads had costed about 2500 about 4 years back. Don't know how much do they cost now.

Honestly, apart from the rattling, I never thought there is a difference of quality between maruti and Honda.

The last time I checked at MASS, they had quoted 4.4k INR to replace the front suspension lower arms (both sides) of my WagonR. Few days ago, I got it done at my FNG and the total bill came to 5k. Splitting up, the cost of the lower arms were 1.9k while the labour charge for the whole 40k service was 800 bucks. In comparison, MASS charges 1500 bucks as labour cost for my general 10k service.

I believe Honda brake pads had costed about 2500 about 4 years back. Don't know how much do they cost now.

Honestly, apart from the rattling, I never thought there is a difference of quality between maruti and Honda.

I think the city is an unfair comparison. If you look at the other hand, head over to the amaze thread where diesel & auto amaze owners have had brake pads replaced in 10-20K kms, and no resolution from honda, especially if your car is out of warranty. I found out about this when one of my colleagues was complaining about his amaze diesel , in which he is being forced to replace his brake pads every service (8-10K or so). He also has a City also which does not show this problem.

I think the city is an unfair comparison. If you look at the other hand, head over to the amaze thread where diesel & auto amaze owners have had brake pads replaced in 10-20K kms, and no resolution from honda, especially if your car is out of warranty. I found out about this when one of my colleagues was complaining about his amaze diesel , in which he is being forced to replace his brake pads every service (8-10K or so). He also has a City also which does not show this problem.

in that manner, maruti still might be better than honda

I never really wanted to bring the Honda City into comparison. I was asked if I have had better experience. I just posted about my experience.

I thought brake pads typically last about at least 50K Kms. Guess I was wrong there.

In General, with equal City and Highway driving, anything till 30,000 KMS is good life from Brake Pads. Anything above this will totally depend on driving style, Pattern (Highway and City ratio) only.

The first set of Pads in WagonR lasted till 77,000 Kms while the one in Ertiga (Diesel) lasted above 82,000 kms.

However, I have a colleague who drives a Dzire Petrol and its brake pads haven't lasted anything more than 15000-18000 kms and that has been consistent since day 1 (dates back to 2008 & would blame that entirely on his aggressive and reactive driving style) on the same car that has run around 120K kms now.

When we were discussing this with the mechanic at the ASC he said "Sir, you know very well how much these pads last as you have an Ertiga and would have replaced it between 25,000-30,000 kms"

So, 50,000 kms of life from Brake Pads is above normal in all probabilities and applicable to all the cars.

Now coming to the topic of this very own thread, I would say it is always sensible to post the entire bill (Break-up) to ascertain whether the myth is true or the fact that the poor owner was conned with jobs like:

Mind you, all of these jobs (most of these) which cost at least 400 or more towards Labor are mostly carried out without the owner's consent. On top of this you add the Service Tax and other taxes, you will have a bill in which the Tax only component will the cost of the bare minimum you would pay for the service!!

On the other hand, I have noticed that the Service Only charges of Maruti has increased over the last 2 years - Periodic Service for Ertiga costs as much as 2700+ Taxes (If I recall) apart from all the other consumables/Parts like Fluids, Filters.

As I look at my bills from the past 10 Services from 100,000 kms of driving the Ertiga, they have averaged between 6-8K only including Synthetic Oil.

I am very clear about the jobs I want to be carried out and avoid falling prey to unwanted tasks which are mostly labor only tasks and good way to make money for the ASC.

Before posting a comment that "My nnn Kms Service cost me Rs. XXXX", we would love to know what was done in that service and a detailed list of elements along with cost will always help.

Before posting a comment that "My nnn Kms Service cost me Rs. XXXX", we would love to know what was done in that service and a detailed list of elements along with cost will always help.

Very apt point, however more than the cost what is really bad is that the poor customer is being taken for a royal ride for jobs that are not essential which seems very very widespread all across India in case of Maruti. My Ford, GM and Toyota dealers do not con me this way. Only the essential things are serviced or replaced or cleaned. Not everyone is expected to know about cars or be an expert to understand whether or not he or she has been conned. This is IMHO very very unethical with the Maruti ASS that I have visited so far.